'It's just more pressure on the customer,' he said. Ford is responding by offering more generous loyalty incentives to existing customers, trying to lure them back into showrooms with extra cash. But Farley said the market is proving too difficult for some dealers, many of whom have been under profit pressure in recent years. Analyst Erich Merkle of Crowe Horwath said the credit crunch is definitely affecting sales in the United States. 'It's going to continue to constrain sales for the foreseeable future,' he said. Merkle said September is shaping up to be a bad month for the auto industry, and he said sales could fall to the 12 million unit level on an annualized basis. Farley said 13 million is probably more likely. 'We have seen a little bit of a recovery in the past couple of weeks,' he said. Nonetheless, Farley said the industry is under a lot of pricing pressure, with some companies going back to employee pricing. That is putting more pressure on companies like Ford that have not offered that incentive so far. You can reach Bryce Hoffman at (313) 222-2443 or bhoffmandteom.